To Love A Stranger
by existence555
Summary: Itachi comes by Konoha to check on Sasuke, but somebody else catches his eye.


**A/N: This is generally not a pairing that I ship. But they are kinda my guilty pleasure, along with SasoSaku. So I tried to write something for them. Review!! (But don't flame.) BTW some sort of spoilers if you don't read the manga.  
**

Itachi went to Konoha often, though nobody knew about it. Kisame didn't ask about where he went, so Itachi didn't give answers.

He had to make sure that Sasuke was all right. He didn't trust Konoha and was scared that they might kill Sasuke off at any moment. That's why Itachi came to watch him. At least that was the initial reason.

Itachi was bursting with pride when Sasuke became a genin, but he found himself bursting with something else when he spared a glance for the sole female member of Team 7.

It was obvious that she liked Sasuke to the point of obsession. She was always fawning over him.

"_Sasuke-kun, you're so cool!"_

"_Sasuke-kun, I was so worried about you!"_

"_Naruto, stop bothering Sasuke-kun!"_

"_You're not hurt, are you Sasuke-kun?"_

She was all Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke. Itachi wondered why she kept at it, even though Sasuke made it clear that he had no time for her. Itachi wasn't sure what exactly was going on in his little brother's head, but he caught the worry in his eyes when she was injured. Sasuke shouldn't have been so focused on his training, she was obviously in love with him.

Itachi himself felt an attraction towards the pink haired girl. Although she wasn't as strong as her teammates, she had an excellent mastery of chakra. And of course, being a Konoha kunoichi, her beauty was only matched by her determination.

He started coming more often, and he learned that her name was Sakura. The other kid on their team was Uzumaki Naruto, a jinchuriki that he would eventually have to capture for Akatsuki. Itachi felt a sharp sting at the thought of stealing a friend away from her. Well at least, Itachi thought they were friends. She didn't seem to think so, but he saw the way she helped him when he didn't do something right.

Was it wrong to feel like this about somebody Sasuke's age? Itachi wasn't sure about that, but this emotion wasn't something he could control. Then again, he was a missing-nin. He couldn't just drop into Konoha and sweep her off her feet.

Well that was what he _thought_. Then he saw her crying after training one day.

Itachi immediately jumped down from the tree he was perched on, making a light landing in front of her.

"Who are you?" Sakura asked, frightened.

She examined him, noticing a Konoha headband with the village's symbol crossed out. Was he a missing-nin?

"You don't need to know my name," Itachi replied, sitting down next to her. "What's wrong?"

"Why do you care?" Sakura retorted, moving away from him. "And who _are_ you anyway?"

"Calm down," he smiled. "I told you, you don't need to know my name. Just consider me a friend."

"Okay," she said shakily, figuring that he wasn't trying to hurt her. "Well there's a guy…"

"Sasuke?" Itachi blurted out accidentally.

What was he doing? He never revealed things like that. Was he actually nervous? This was ridiculous. Itachi shook his head inwardly.

"Yeah," Sakura nodded, not bothered that this stranger knew Sasuke's name. "I don't think he'll ever love me back."

"Why not?" Itachi asked, genuinely curious as to why somebody wouldn't love this exquisite cherry blossom.

Granted, she was a little scary at times, especially when dealing with Naruto. Also, she was all over Sasuke, which he supposed could be a turnoff. But Itachi would never have been turned off by that.

"He acts like he hates me," Sakura whispered.

"I'm sure he doesn't hate you," Itachi comforted her.

Without him realizing, his arm had moved around her in a protective gesture. They were close enough to make Itachi's breathing stop, if only for a second. He was about to remove his arm when he felt her body start shaking with sobs again.

"I'm sure he does," Sakura sighed.

"Well then, you don't need him," Itachi declared.

"But I do," she contradicted him softly. "Without him, I'd be broken."

"I'll put you back together," Itachi promised, again letting something slip.

Sakura looked up, finally realizing his intentions.

"Is that why you're talking to me?!" she inquired angrily. "Because you think that I'll just fall for you?!"

"No, that's not it," Itachi shook his head, not letting his nervousness show through.

"That is it," Sakura looked hurt. "I thought you were going to be my friend."

"Look, I didn't mean any harm," Itachi said honestly.

"I don't know what you mean," Sakura backed away. "I think you should leave."

"I'm leaving then," Itachi nodded, not wanting to hurt her.

He got up and jumped onto the wall in front of them.

"Hey!" Sakura called.

Itachi turned around and looked at her.

"You look kinda like Sasuke-kun," she remarked, looking him up and down.

"Actually," Itachi laughed. "If you wanted to be correct about it, he looks like me."

With that, Itachi disappeared, going too fast for Sakura to follow his movements.

She was left to wonder who he was and be grateful that he was gone. At first she was thankful. Then later on, she thought more about him. Little by little, he filled her mind, the mysterious Uchiha who apparently liked her. (Well if he wasn't an Uchiha, what else could he be? Sasuke-kun looked so much like him.) Sakura stopped thinking about Sasuke altogether, and it was the older man that she dreamt of. After training one day, she went to sit in the same place that they had met, and she started crying again.

"Why are you crying?" a deep voice asked.

She looked up to find Itachi standing there, his eyes fixed on her.

"Who are you?" she wiped her tears away.

"It's not necessary for you to know that," he replied.

"I guess not," Sakura stood up, trembling.

Did he still like her? Would he kill her if she tried to make a move?

"So why are you crying?" Itachi repeated.

"Because somebody that I love left me," Sakura explained.

"Did you ask them to leave?" he queried.

"Maybe," she whispered, her voice barely audible.

"Do you want them back?" he questioned her.

And she couldn't take it anymore. She threw herself at him, literally. Next thing she knew, his arms were around her. He just made her feel so safe. Then the tears started flowing again, just because she was so excited that he was here.

"I guess that's a yes," Itachi allowed a smile to grace his lips as he wiped away his tears.

"Lucky me," Sakura muttered. "I would fall in love with someone whose name I don't even know."

"You can call me whatever you want," Itachi shrugged, holding her closer. "As long as you keep calling me."


End file.
